Ring for the King - A national plea to get bell ringing

Ring for the King

Trisha Shannon sub-editor at the historic Ringing World magazine, is urging our children to get into bellringing now to be ready to Ring for the King!

Irock at maths!” said Ben, as we sat watching his mum have her turn on a rope at a ringing practice on a Tuesday evening. It isn’t necessary to “rock at maths” to be a good bellringer, but you do need to be able to count, at least up to six for a typical village ring of bells. If you can do that, and ride a bicycle, you will be fi ne. Ben had his fi rst go at ringing a church bell on Saturday 10th September 2022 when bells around the country rang out in celebration of the Proclamation of our new King. It was a historic moment, and Ben will remember it. He has had a couple more goes since then, accompanying his mum to practice sessions. He’s a little on the young side – but the best ringers in the country are the ones who came to it young and kept it up. Ben’s mum, Anna, grew up near a church that only had one bell, chimed by the verger. When she moved to Kingsworthy, she was introduced to Jonathan, the local tower captain. “He was kind enough to give me the opportunity to have a go and it was love at fi rst ding,” says Anna. “I've thoroughly enjoyed becoming part of the local bell ringing community. I feel so lucky to have been given the chance to learn. People have been very patient and it's been brilliant for my seven-year-old son Ben to have had the chance to try too. Hopefully he is a future bell ringer in the making.” As with any musical instrument, learning the technical skill takes time, and after that there is a lifetime of progress and enjoyment. For me, learning as an adult (the wrong side of 40, never mind 16)

“bellringing was the perfect antidote to the physical stress of bashing a keyboard as fast as I could all day editing news stories. I came to the belltower, took off my reading glasses, reached for my rope and gave it a strong pull, stretching my stiff shoulders and resulting in a very satisfying loud noise. I was hooked from the fi rst attempt! Th ere is now a national campaign to recruit new ringers to join the celebrations for the Coronation in May 2023. If you would like to have a go, contact your local association or tower and they will put you in touch with someone who can recommend where to start. Here are some useful links. Hampshire: wpbells. org or Wiltshire and Dorset: sdgr.org.uk

Seven-year-old Ben ringing for the Proclamation of the Accession of the King at Holy Trinity Church in Wonston.

“It was love at rst ding! “